Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The German Civil War - Prelude to the Storm (5)
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September 15, 1939
Berlin, Northern Germany
"Th-that. Give me that."
Shaking violently, Hitler demanded the medicine. His personal physician, Theodor Morell, handed him a painkiller along with Pervitin.
While it would later become known as the narcotic methamphetamine, the German-branded drug was widely abused in this era, its side effects still unknown.
Hitler tossed it into his mouth, but he continued to writhe for a while longer.
Hitler had remained unconscious for a full ten days after the attack on the Führer's Chancellery, and even after waking, he was gasping in agony, constantly asking for more drugs.
"Are you sure he'll be all right, Doctor? The Führer isn't showing any improvement!"
"His injuries were extremely severe, so there are lingering effects. He still needs time."
Goebbels shot Morell a glare but held his tongue.
The high-ranking Nazi officials considered Karl Brandt a more reliable physician than Morell, but Brandt had been dismissed by Hitler after objecting to Morell's prescriptions, arguing they might be effective in the short term but would ruin the patient in the long run.
"Are we... losing?"
Having finally calmed down, Hitler asked in disbelief. Hermann Göring reluctantly nodded.
"They've seized control of western, southern, and central Germany, Führer. With the Ruhr occupied, we're locked in a stalemate, and our forces are struggling with supplies."
In the original history, the German army had faced an ammunition crisis during the invasion of Poland, which lasted only a month.
But in this civil war, they had lost the Ruhr, the heart of German industry, right from the start. Although many Wehrmacht units remained in Nazi-controlled territory, it was difficult to command them effectively when they couldn't even be properly supplied.
"On top of that, those damned Poles are still maintaining their general mobilization, continuing to build defensive lines and deploy divisions along the border."
Because the civil war erupted, Nazi Germany had given Poland ample time to prepare.
The Polish army was still mobilizing, steadily carrying out a full-scale deployment along the German border—something that had been impossible in the original history due to a lack of time and troops.
This was also why the Army High Command couldn't do anything about Fedor von Bock's Army Group North, which was openly ignoring orders and remaining entrenched on the eastern front.
If Army Group North were to move to the internal German front, the Polish border would be left wide open.
"Damn the Wehrmacht! They're traitors, too! All of them are traitors!"
His grand dream of reclaiming Danzig thwarted before his very eyes, having survived a brush with death only to be tormented by pain, Hitler was now consumed by an intense paranoia.
With the exception of Erwin Rommel, who had risked his life to save him, and Reichenau, who had been the first to rush to his side, Hitler suspected every member of the Wehrmacht.
In reality, most of the Wehrmacht was watching from the sidelines, supporting neither faction. They were still testing the waters simply because the Nazi side had more troops, and they lacked certainty about the outcome.
This was also why the Nazis couldn't use the SS troops defending Berlin to launch a counterattack or rescue Paul Hausser at the training grounds, even though they had defeated General Lutz's armored unit and the enemy's forces were inferior.
If the handful of military units loyal to the Nazis were to be wiped out in an offensive, there was no telling when the rest of the Wehrmacht might turn against them.
"Even the people... are on their side, not ours...?"
At Hitler's words, Goebbels nodded grimly.
Goebbels was undoubtedly a pioneer of propaganda and possessed a devilish talent for it, but he had never before experienced this type of public opinion warfare.
Even the democratic nations of this era viewed the public and their opinions merely as objects to be controlled. The idea of using the people themselves as a weapon in an information war was unheard of.
No matter how brilliant Goebbels was, he couldn't block all the revelations coming from the general public, especially when they were true and accompanied by shocking photographs.
For the Nazi Party, which had thrived by fueling the people's sense of victimhood and hatred with lies and propaganda, being cast as the very source of that victimhood was an unimaginable and indefensible position.
Furthermore, their spokesman, Dietrich Schacht, was waging a campaign of counterarguments and exposés that precisely targeted Goebbels's propaganda techniques, as if he understood him—Goebbels himself—perfectly.
Dietrich Schacht knew a great deal about Paul Joseph Goebbels, the infamous master of modern propaganda, but to Goebbels, Dietrich Schacht was a complete unknown.
This imbalance was inflicting a sense of defeat even on the greatest and most wicked genius of the age.
Seeing the look of profound apology on Goebbels's face, Hitler was at a loss for words.
Their only hope was for the Führer, who once held the absolute support of the people, to address the nation himself. But this was also their greatest fear.
What if, after he painstakingly recovered from his drug-addled state of agony, he appeared on the broadcast only for the people to turn their backs on him? What would become of them then?
The driving force of Nazism was the fanatical support born from the people's sense of victimhood and patriotism. But now that they were being framed as the source of that victimhood, could they possibly overcome this crisis?
Shot and brought back from the brink of death, he found that the Germany he had spent a lifetime seizing control of was slipping from his grasp, his hands and feet bound. Hitler felt as if he were trapped in a nightmare.
"W-we'll ask Mussolini for help."
In the end, Hitler's last resort was Italy, led by the man he admired as the pioneer of fascism, Il Duce, Mussolini.
***
September 16, 1939
Rome, the capital of Italy, in the central region of Lazio
"Our mustachioed friend seems to be in quite a hurry."
The burly, broad-featured man, Benito Mussolini, spoke with a smile.
Unlike Japan, which was merely a friendly nation to Germany through the Anti-Comintern Pact, Italy was Germany's official ally, bound by the Pact of Steel signed on May 22, 1939.
However, Mussolini, the Duce of Italy, was actually quite pleased with Hitler's misfortune.
He had been secretly jealous of how Hitler had transformed Germany into a major power that captured the attention of all of Europe while Italy was still struggling with the aftereffects of the war in Ethiopia.
He was the original fascist, after all, while Hitler was merely an upstart follower.
"This is what happens when you can't even manage your own house and recklessly pursue expansion."
Foreign Minister Count Ciano and Chief of Staff Badoglio, unsure how to react to Mussolini gloating over his ally's misfortune, exchanged glances and sighed. Finally, Ciano, who was in a slightly better position to speak, stepped forward.
"What do you intend to do, Duce?"
Mussolini's reply to the question from his foreign minister and son-in-law was concise.
"Of course, we must help. They are our ally, after all. As for compensation... hmm. Austria should suffice, don't you think?"
"What? Do you think those fanatics, steeped in German nationalism, will accept that so easily?"
Mussolini burst out laughing at Ciano's question.
"What? Hahaha! Was there ever really such a thing as ethnicity or race? Can such a thing even exist? Of course not. What matters is the state and the people who live within its borders."
Mussolini finished with a grin.
"If they don't like it, tell them to go hang themselves on the gallows. They have no other allies after stirring up all of Europe."
It was hardly the way to speak of an ally, but Mussolini had long considered Austria, where fascists had always been strong, to be within his sphere of influence.
That was why, in 1934, he had threatened to go to war to stop Hitler's attempt to annex Austria.
Although he had been forced to join hands with Hitler after becoming diplomatically isolated and suffering humiliation before leaving the League of Nations following the invasion of Ethiopia, there was no need to remain loyal now that his ally was crippled.
"But Duce, they are in the middle of a civil war. If we get involved now, we might give Britain or France a pretext to intervene."
Count Ciano's point was valid, but Mussolini's face soured.
"That damn Britain and France! Those filthy schemers who thwart Italy at every turn!"
The contempt Italy and Mussolini held for Britain and France was deep-seated.
Italy had shed considerable blood in the last World War, albeit late in the conflict, but as a victorious nation, they received only a fraction of their promised rewards: South Tyrol and the Istrian Peninsula.
This was commensurate with Italy's contribution—they had only joined late in the war, fought effectively only against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and suffered repeated defeats against the German army—but the Italians nevertheless felt that Britain and France had robbed them of the compensation they deserved for the blood they had spilled.
"If only those foolish French had taken our hand, things would have been so much easier!"
It wasn't as if Mussolini had done nothing while the German civil war was unfolding.
The new German government, which had risen under the banner of eradicating fascism, had put him on alert, and Mussolini had reached out to France.
He had proposed that while Germany was in disarray, Italy and France should join forces to strike, with Italy taking Austria and France seizing the west bank of the Rhine.
But France had rejected the offer. The two nations already had a poor relationship due to conflicts over islands in the Mediterranean, but Mussolini's recent actions were a major factor.
To join hands with Mussolini—a man who had become a pariah after invading Ethiopia and leaving the League of Nations, who had openly sided with Hitler at the Munich Agreement, and who had forcibly annexed the small nation of Albania.
For France, it was a move that risked turning Britain into an enemy.
Furthermore, attacking a Germany embroiled in a civil war against fascists, by allying with other fascists, would have looked terrible in France, which was still reeling from the atrocities committed by fascists in the recent Spanish Civil War.
"With all due respect, Duce, our military has not yet recovered from its losses in the invasion of Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War."
Marshal Pietro Badoglio, the Chief of the Italian General Staff, who had been silent until then, spoke up.
"If I may be so bold, the current state of our army is such that we cannot guarantee victory in any war in Europe..."
"What are you talking about, Marshal! Could Spain have won its civil war without our iron-clad Italian army?"
The old marshal fell silent at Mussolini's outburst.
His predecessor, Emilio De Bono, had been dismissed for his sluggish performance during the invasion of Ethiopia, and with Mussolini also serving as the Minister of War, the military was firmly under his influence.
"However, Duce, I agree with the assessment that Italy is not yet ready for war."
Mussolini seemed to ponder his son-in-law's words for a moment, but his decision was already made.
"Even so, we cannot simply stand by and watch this new German government. Are they not the ones who raised the banner of eradicating fascism? We have the justification of helping an ally, and this is a golden opportunity to reclaim the leadership of fascism from Germany and bring it back to Italy!"
The relationship between Germany and Italy had been far from amicable until very recently. Even in the original history, their status as Axis powers did not mean they shared a bond of trust like blood brothers.
Mussolini had been forced to watch idly as Germany expanded.
He didn't want to miss this chance to reverse his position, where he'd had to be content with a mere guarantee from Hitler to renounce claims on South Tyrol (originally southern Austrian territory).
Why shouldn't all of Austria, not just South Tyrol, become Italian territory? Unlike Hitler, he had no interest in things like nationalism or racial ideology.
The Austrian fascists would be happier under the glory of the great old Rome that Italy would rebuild, anyway.
The prospect of British and French intervention was a concern, but the prize was too tempting to give up for that reason alone.
But just as Mussolini was indulging in these pleasant thoughts, unexpected bad news arrived.
"Urgent news!"
Mussolini took the telegram from the aide who had rushed in, his expression puzzled. As he read it, he abruptly crumpled it in his hand.
"Damn it! How dare that anachronistic authoritarian stand in my way!"
***
September 17, 1939
Kassel and Frankfurt, IX Military District, Central Germany
"Extra, extra!"
Freshly printed newspapers were flying off the presses in Frankfurt.
[Pope Supports New Government! Adolf Hitler is an Enemy of the Catholic Church!]
[God's Justice is with the New Government!]
Foreign Minister Ernst von Weizsäcker had engaged in a two-week tug-of-war since the start of the civil war to make this happen, but in the end, he had narrowly succeeded.
The Black Orchestra, being men of an older generation, held religious authority in high regard and had consistently reached out to the Pope, both in the original history and in this one.
However, Pope Pius XII had been hedging his bets between the Nazi government's Vatican ambassador, Diego von Bergen, and our own Weizsäcker, refusing to rashly support either side.
Known as the last authoritarian pope, he was obsessed with his authority and had no desire to risk damaging the papacy's prestige by hastily backing one side.
But I knew something that the people of this era did not.
The Foreign Ministry, taking my advice about rumors of a nun the Pope deeply trusted and favored, had taken a chance, and it had paid off beautifully.
Instead of requesting support from the Pope directly, we contacted Pascalina Lehnert, who at the time was merely his secretary nun.
She was a figure who held Pius XII's absolute trust and shared his authoritarian tendencies. Later in history, she would become a powerhouse known by the formidable title "La Popessa" of the Vatican, managing its affairs on behalf of Pius XII despite being only a nun.
We emphasized the reality that the churches in Bavaria—where she was born and raised, and where Pius XII had once served—were being suppressed by the Nazi Party and twisted into an "Aryan" religion to suit their tastes.
Our argument that the new government would liberate the Church from Nazi oppression, and that the Holy See's support would directly lead to a rise in the Church's authority, was highly effective.
It certainly helped that we had already exposed the Nazis' atrocities and gained the support of international public opinion and our own people, but in the end, Pius XII, armed with sufficient justification and persuaded by the nun he cherished and trusted, feigned reluctance and issued an official statement supporting us.
The Nazis were in a bind, trying their best to ignore it, but their agitation was palpable.
The first entity to support the new government after the outbreak of the civil war was none other than the Holy See, and in this era, the influence of religion was far from negligible.
This was especially true in Bavaria, their power base, and in Austria—which we had yet to secure due to the Nazi Party's strong presence there—where the proportion of Catholics is extremely high.
Moreover, Italy, the Nazi regime's fascist ally, is also a renowned Catholic nation, being the home of the Holy See.
By securing the Pope's support, we have shaken the Nazis' foundation and significantly weakened Italy's justification for eyeing us covetously.
And now that we have this endorsement, we can actively promote the Protestant leaders of the Confessing Church we've been holding in reserve to sway the Protestant faithful in northern Germany as well.
I feel a bit sorry for the Pope who supported us, but he's not about to retract his support and ruin his own authority just because some Protestants are now on board, so there's no problem.
The Abwehr agents did eventually confirm Hitler's survival.
But the Nazis' hands were already almost completely tied.
"Now, then. Let's see what kind of magnificent last stand Hitler can muster."
Two years and seven months after I fell into the body of Dietrich Schacht, the collapse of the Nazi regime is imminent.